The present invention relates to a signal transmitting equipment between an elevator cage and a shaft through which said cage travels.
FIG. 1 is a lengthwise sectional view of an inclined shaft for a slopingly traveling elevator, showing a signal transmitting equipment used for a prior art elevator according to Japanese Patent Application Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-127066 (1983).
Referring to FIG. 1, a slopingly installed shaft 1 contains a cage 2 connected to a counter weight 3 by means of a main rope 4 and a traction machine 5 installed in a machine room 6 drives said main rope 4. A rail 7 fixed to a ceiling part of shaft 1 is laid lengthwise along said shaft 1 and guides cable hangers 8A through 8D which move along the rail 7. A moving cable 9 which suspends inside said shaft 1 is jointed to said cage 2 at one end and is supported successively by cable hangers 8A through 8D along the way. Said moving cable 9 connects electrically between devices inside said cage 2 and external controls (not illustrated) to transmit the control signal between them. A rope 10 joint to said cable hanger 8A at one end is jointed to said counter weight 3 at the other end thereof after passing through pulleys 11 and 12.
As mentioned above, a signal transmitting equipment used for a prior art elevator has a connected cable through which a control signal is to be transmitted. In the abovementioned configuration, starting a traction machine 5 causes a cage 2 and a counter weight 3 to go up and down alternately inside a shaft 1. As the cage 2 ascends, the counter weight 3 descends causing the rope 10 to pull up the cable hanger 8A. Thus, the cable hanger 8A moves upward as the cage 2 ascends causing the cable hanger 8B through 8D to move upward successively by means of the moving cable 9. When the cage 2 descends, a motion occurs in the reverse direction to the above and the moving cable 9 folds among the cable hangers 8A through 8D.
Consequently, a prior art slopingly traveling elevator has to reserve a large space at the bottom of shaft 1 to store folded moving cable 9 and, thus, a quite long shaft may become infeasible.
In an outdoor elevator, furthermore, swing due to wind may forbid the use of the suspended cable g
When using a moving cable 9 is difficult an alternative signal transmitting means in place of a moving cable 9 has been provided as, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 51-17788 (1976), wherein a control signal from a machine room 6 is transmitted to a cage 2 by means of a leakage coaxial cable system or an inductive radio system. In this connection, such a system employs a weak a radio which can be freely used according to radio laws due to the low intensity of the signal.
Since said leakage coaxial cable system or inductive radio system employs a weak radio wave for an elevator control signal transmitting equipment, it is necessary to magnetically shield the shaft 1, resulting in an increase in the cost. Even though magnetic shielding may be used, if a passenger uses a radio set or a transceiver inside the cage 2, radio interference may occur. Normally, a worker may use a transceiver inside the shaft during installation work of the elevator and radio interference has to be avoided even in such a case.